10 Disney Films With Shockingly Dark Source Material
1. Peter Pan
In truth, I suppose there was always something a little uneasy about Peter Pan, a fictional hero that abducts kids and brings them to a world where they will never, ever grow older. But that sense of unease is magnified dramatically in J.M. Barrie's original story when it's announced that Peter has in fact been killing the Lost Boys when they begin to grow older.
Gone is the magic of an endless childhood in a mythical storybook land, replaced by a genocide committed by a tight-wearing, unhinged lunatic completely disillusioned with the passage of time. Barrie's story makes for a much less heroic picture of the titular Peter Pan but, in fact, a sad and disturbing picture of the dangers of escapism and the pitfalls of someone with too much power believing in their own ideals too much.
It seems odd to say, but there is just something not right about that guy flying in through kids windows at night and whisking them off to fight a mythical single-handed pirate and a clock swallowing crocodile. Maybe it's just me.